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Chisago Lakes 6, St. Peter 2

Chisago Lakes 12, St. Peter 1

Ashley Mandell hit a solo home run with two outs in the first inning to get the Wildcats on the scoreboard and pitched seven strong innings to lead the Wildcats to a 6-2 win over the St. Peter Saints in the first game of a doubleheader on Wednesday, May 3 at Jefferson Fields in St. Peter.  With the Wildcats leading 2-1 in the top of the fifth, Melana Larson hit a bases-loaded single to drive in two runs.  Melanie Anderson followed with a run-scoring single, and the Wildcats led 5-1.  Larson singled in another run in the top of the seventh.  Mandell allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits, walked two and struck out seven.

In the nightcap, Anna Zaruba and Courtney Preston each hit a two-run homer, and Anna Zaruba pitched seven innings and allowed just two hits as the Wildcats crushed the Saints 12-1.  After Mandell tied the game with a run-scoring double in the bottom of the third, Anna Zaruba’s two-run blast put the Wildcats in front 2-1.  Lily Myhre doubled in two runs in the fifth.  In a seven-run sixth, Myhre singled in a run, Anderson doubled in two, Preston homered for two more and Mandell finished off the scoring with a two-run double.  Anna Zaruba allowed just one earned run and struck out eight.

Chisago Lakes 6, Princeton 4

Against Princeton the next day – played in Princeton, but a rescheduled home game for the Wildcats - the Wildcats used a two-run homer by Ashley Mandell and a bunch of doubles to take a 6-0 lead after four innings.  The Tigers put up a furious rally in the top of the seventh, but the Wildcats held them off and came away with a 6-4 win.

With two outs in the bottom of the third, back-to-back doubles by Sam Johnson and Leah Zaruba accounted for the game’s first run.  Mandell followed with her home run and, after a single by Anna Zaruba, Lily Myhre doubled in the fourth run of the inning.  In the fourth, a double by Chloe Ruza, a single by Courtney Preston and a double by Leah Zaruba pushed across two more runs to make it 6-0.  In the top of the seventh, the Tigers loaded the bases with no outs.  After a popup and groundout, the Wildcats were one out away from the win.  A hit batter and two singles scored four runs to cut the Wildcat lead to 6-4 with runners on first and second.  But Anna Zaruba settled down and struck out the next batter to end the game.  She allowed four earned runs on eight hits, didn’t walk anyone, and struck out seven.

New Ulm 2, Chisago Lakes 1

On Friday, May 4, playing their sixth game in four days, the Wildcats lost at home 2-1 to the New Ulm Eagles.  In the top of the first, the leadoff hitter for the Eagles singled, stole second and scored on a one-out single to make it 1-0.  In the bottom of the inning, not to be outdone, Sam Johnson singled, stole second and scored on Ashley Mandell’s one-out double to tie the game at 1-1.  In the top of the third, New Ulm’s number nine hitter reached on an error to lead off the inning.  She stole second, went to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a two-out single to give the Eagles a 2-1 lead.  Mandell doubled with two outs in the bottom of the inning but was stranded at second.  The Wildcats managed just three baserunners over the next four innings, striking out seven times while working to tie the game.  Mandell pitched well, allowing two runs (one earned) on seven hits.  She had no walks and struck out seven.

Chisago Lakes 3, Cambridge-Isanti 0

Chisago Lakes 11, Cambridge-Isanti 5

For the third time in a row, and their fourth time in five tries this season, the Wildcats swept a doubleheader.  The victims on Tuesday, May 9 were the Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets, at Cambridge.  In the opener, the Wildcats got all the runs they needed on Ashley Mandell’s three-run homer with two outs in the bottom of the third inning.  Anna Zaruba pitched brilliantly, allowing just three hits, and striking out 13.  She struck out six Bluejackets in a row at one point and retired the last 12 batters she faced in her complete game performance.

In the Wildcats’ 11-5 win in the second game, it came down to throwing strikes.  The Wildcats outhit Cambridge 13-11.  But the Cambridge pitchers walked 8 batters, and Mandell didn’t walk a single batter.  Six of the eight Wildcats who walked scored, accounting for the Wildcats’ six-run margin of victory.  And Mandell came up with some big pitches when she needed to, striking out eleven.  Wildcat batters struck out just five times.  The biggest hits in the game for the Wildcats were a two-run double by Melana Larson in the third and a two-run single by Melanie Anderson in the fifth.  Anna Zaruba was three-for-five with two RBIs.  Anderson drove in three runs, and Tianna Ritter had two RBIs.

Chisago Lakes 1, St. Francis 0

Anna Zaruba allowed five hits but struck out 15 batters and – as usual, didn’t walk anyone in the Wildcats’ 1-0 win over the St. Francis Fighting Saints Thursday, May 11 at Chisago Lakes.  The Wildcats got the only run they would need in the fourth inning.  Ashley Mandell doubled with one out and, with two outs, Melana Larson singled to drive in Mandell.

Chisago Lakes 3, Cloquet 0

Both Anna Zaruba and Ashley Mandell homered, and Anna Zaruba pitched another excellent game as the Wildcats shut out the Cloquet Lumberjacks 1-0 Friday, May 12 at Mark Park in Princeton.  Zaruba allowed just three hits and struck out 13, with no walks.  Mandell homered with two outs in the first, and Anna Zaruba led off the third with a home run.  In the sixth, pinch hitter Jesa Leirtz doubled in Sam Johnson to score the Wildcats’ third run of the game.

Princeton 7, Chisago Lakes 5

In their second game of the day at Mark Park, the Wildcats led Princeton 5-1 going into the top of the fifth.  But the Tigers scored four runs in the fifth and two in the sixth to beat the Wildcats 7-4, handing the Wildcats just their fourth loss of the season.  The Wildcats built their lead on a run-scoring single by Anna Zaruba in the first, a solo homer by Courtney Preston in the second, a two-run double by Melana Larson in the third and a bunt by Morgan Kotval in the fourth that ended up scoring Melanie Anderson all the way from second.  But the Tigers used three hits, a walk, and an error to tie the game at 5-5 in the fifth.  In the sixth, two one out doubles and an error resulted in two runs for Princeton, and they came away with a 7-5 win.

Softball datebook

After playing Tuesday and Wednesday this week, the Wildcats (12-4) have just two games left before the playoffs.  Tomorrow, they will welcome the Grand Rapids Thunderhawks and the Hermantown Hawks to Chisago Lakes High School for two games starting at 3 p.m.  The playoffs start next Wednesday, May 24.  If the Wildcats get the number one seed in the section, they will get a bye on the 24th, otherwise, they host a home game on that day.  We will have a section playoff preview in next week’s Press.

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